Dark Horse Nashville: Going on Record and Breaking the Rules of Music Reviews

The following press release came to my attention through the Scout66 blog, which provides commentary on the music business. Whether or not you or your band take advantage of the service described below, it begs the question: Are you willing to have a third party listen to your single, ep, or cd, critique your work, offer a bit of advice?

Nashville, TN – It’s true the CD review is nothing new but Indie artists need a few good ones. Most are lookin’ for love in all the wrong places, lookin’ for love in too many faces. Too many times the artist ends up with very little attempting to chase down the mass marketing model in a niche music world.

Dark Horse Nashville is accepting submissions for single tunes, EPs and full-length CDs in all genres. Establishing a company to review new music is nothing new either. But there’s a catch that works in the artists’ favor.

Most reviews are written from a critical or opinion-based ideal, leaving out whether or not the CD accomplished what it intended to do. There’s a fine line in the process of review that determines whether a CD is musically moving or not; whether it will be a chart topper or not; and whether the recording appears to accomplish what the artist set out to do; and whether there is an audience, big or small.

Dark Horse Nashville will make their reviews available within the industry which opens the door to studios, engineers, producers, labels, management, booking agents and publicists being familiar with artists’ work way ahead of everyone else, and those seeking new talent.

Based in Music City, one of the most accessible music scenes in the world, the team of anonymous writers at Dark Horse has several goals in mind:

Provide concise reviews calling like they see it

Review every CD/single submitted

No hype

Provide suggestions that will help improve an artist’s next release

Eliminate the search for writers who will review new work; reduce the waiting time

Here’s another thing about Dark Horse Nashville that makes it a unique service: There are no names or faces attached to any review. The principals of the company have extensive experience in music on many levels and recognize the stumbling blocks in the system that create bias, often compromising those who have the fewest resources at their disposal. Remaining anonymous allows all channels of communication to remain open, all efforts are therefore strictly business, and favoritism in the industry is diminished. In simple terms, Dark Horse Nashville doesn’t want to become the outlet for just No. 1 hits.

“Our MO is to be a leading voice outside mainstream publications, favoring no one.” the senior principal wrote. “Too many dark horses get left out of this process because they can’t compete with limited resources. We know the rules and we’re breaking them to fit into the mold that works now. We’ll probably always break our own rules to make this work.”

The current fee structure at Dark Horse is $15 per single, $40 per EP or full-length release, $60 for any review with a 72-hour turnaround upon receipt. Recordings up to 10 months old are accepted. Artists must submit two (2) copies of their release with a money order or cashier’s check in US dollars to Dark Horse, 2828 Old Hickory Boulevard, #1204, Nashville, TN 37221. The artist should include contact information and an email address to receive the completed review. After the review process, all CDs will be donated to charities.

Each completed review will be emailed directly to the artist and a repository of all reviews is under construction.

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Andrew Gregory

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